Experience lifts Lecheminant to worlds

Orson Lecheminant has devoted the last few months of his life to what he hopes will be nine minutes of success on Friday.

The 16-year-old powerlifter, who attends Crocus Plains and works at four different jobs in the summer, will represent Canada at the Powerlifting World Championship in Sun City, South Africa.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Lecheminant said. “You fly all the way to Africa, 46 hours each way of travel for me to lift for nine minutes. It’s nine minutes of attempts. That’s it, and you train for years to get there.”

He works with Calgary-based coach Nick Manders: One of the things they discussed was overtraining, which can be an overwhelming impulse before an athlete competes in a major event.

As it turns out, Lecheminant has already learned his lesson after a major disappointment.

A year ago, he injured his right hip due to too much time in the gym, a tough landscaping job, not enough food and too little sleep. After a tough competition, it took him five months to rehab the injury, and that landed him right at nationals.

“My nationals prep was really iffy and scary,” Lecheminant said. “It was really hard on my mental. Any day I was waiting for it to blow again because some days it was really bad and it hurt and I couldn’t lift anything, and there were other days when it was fine. It kept switching up and I was really trying to recover as well as I could.”

Even without the benefit of solid training, he squatted 155 kilograms (341.7 lb), benched 120 kg (264.5 lb) and deadlifted 177.5 kilos (391.3 pounds) to tie for third with 452.5 kg (997.5 lb) at the Canada Powerlifting National Championships in March in St. John’s, N.L.

After he finally got healthy, and with the wisdom he’s accrued over the last year, Lecheminant has found his training for worlds far easier.

“I’m recovering better, I’m sleeping, I’m eating,” Lecheminant said. “I’m training as I should be. I’m not pushing too hard. I know my limit now. I’ve been taught that lesson so I know when I need to execute and when I can’t. I haven’t failed a lift this prep at all. I’ve executed every time.”

In training, he set new highs in squat (353 pounds, 160 kg), deadlift (400 pounds, 181.5 kg) and matched his top bench (265 pounds, 120 kg).

In addition to training his body, he’s worked on the mental side of the sport and is eager for his largest event to date.

After not finishing the way he wanted at nationals, Lecheminant learned to keep himself in check, because any negativity is counterproductive.

About three weeks ago, he tweaked his hip during a squat and it was sore for a week. Instead of panicking, he did what he needed to get better and it worked.

“At nationals, I completely catastrophized it,” Lecheminant said. “I made it worse on myself. That’s a mental thing I’ve learned. This is my first good prep in over a year. What can I do with that good prep, and what does that make me as a lifter?”

He said that will help after all the travel and a seven-hour change in time zones.

POPULAR LIFTER

There are three major events in the international powerlifting calendar, the Commonwealth Powerlifiting Federation Championships, and the world and North American championships.

He received invitations to attend all three for Canada, but accepted worlds and Commonwealth, which is in Winnipeg in September. He turned down the North American event in St. John’s earlier this month because three events is a lot on his body and his pocketbook.

In the spring, his family launched a gofundme campaign, and along with donations in person, he raised more than $5,000. That paid for his flights and hotels, and his summer jobs will cover food, the team kit and other fees.

“I didn’t think it would be like that at all,” Lecheminant said of the community support. “I was shocked when it got over $100. I thought it was going to flop and nobody would see it but my parents really pushed it out and a lot of saw it, were asking about it and were supportive too. I felt weird asking for donations like that but people seemed to be supportive and want to help out.

“… It was really nice and meaningful that people care about what I’m trying to do.”

Another tangible sign of his hard work arrived on Aug. 2, when his Team Canada kit arrived in Brandon. He admits it was a big day because it’s something he’s worked hard for.

“I was literally counting down the days waiting for it,” Lecheminant said. “I was emailing ‘When’s it going to ship?’ I was so excited. I wanted to train in it, I wanted to wear it. I got it and it was surreal just to get to wear it and represent it. I’m the only person in my weight class representing Canada at sub-junior worlds.

“That’s crazy, and I’m the one wearing that kit. It was a big goal accomplished.”

THE BIG EVENT

Lecheminant flew out Monday morning to join some of his teammates in Vancouver. The group then took a flight to Germany, and after a 12-hour stopover, continued on to South Africa.

The sub-junior category is for ages 14 to 18, and Lecheminant will be one of the youngest competitors there in any age group after turning 16 last week. He is the youngest on Team Canada.

“I’ve got two years and four months left in the class,” Lecheminant said. “I’m in that contention for top 10 with 2.5 years to go. I have a lot more room to grow into that. This is to make my statement, go in and show who I am, enjoy it and get that experience.”

Worlds are in China in 2027, so he’s hoping to attend and place a bit higher in his second attempt.

Lecheminant has spent time researching his competition in South Africa, and understands the challenge that lies ahead.

“They’re very good,” Lecheminant said with a chuckle. “Honestly, since it’s the world championship it’s the best in the world and there are some there who are coming in hot. You go on Instagram and see some of these guys training and there are world-record benches, world-record squats. I think we’re going to see multiple world records fall in that class. I’ll be battling among that, which is pretty crazy.”

That may be a big part of his mental battle in Sun City.

The year he started competing in the sport, he watched worlds and set the goal of competing in them one day. But he wasn’t sure it was realistic.

“Sometime you set goals like that and you don’t think they’re going to happen,” Lecheminant said. “I still don’t think I’ve actually processed that I’m going to worlds yet. It will sink in when I get on the plane or when I’m there or when I’m warming up or when I’m in the hotel.

“It’s going to hit me at some point like a brick and it’s going to be ‘I got there.’”

Friday will start with weigh-ins at 7 a.m., local time, midnight in Manitoba. He’ll have a chance to eat and rehydrate after making his weight of 66 kilograms (145 pounds), a goal he’s already within two kilograms of meeting.

Two hours later, the lifting begins.

The events are squat, bench and deadlift, with three attempts at each for the 13 lifters in his division. They each get one minute per attempt but often don’t use all their time, so he estimates it will be between eight and 13 minutes between each of his lifts.

That’s when the 16-year-old from Brandon can showcase how he’s grown physically and mentally in the sport.

“I think I’m very capable of being in the top of the class and in the top of the world,” Lecheminant said. “When I was 15, I had the second best bench in the world for 2026 in my (U15) class and near the top in total.

“I’m there and I know I can be there. I’ve got the mentality and the grit to get there.”

»pbergson@brandonsun.com